Relationships in Triplicate
by Ninja-G33k
Summary: An essay examining Kishimotosensei's use of tripartite relationships and what it means with regard to character pairings, presented as a service to Naruto fans.


Relationships in Triplicate:

Examining Interacting Character Triads in Kishimoto Masashi's _Naruto_

Author's Note: Before I begin, let me remind all Gentle Readers that the following essay is an _expression of opinion_, based on my reading of Kishimoto-sensei's work; I am calling it the way I see it. If you disagree with my conclusions, do not waste bandwidth by flaming me; write and post your own essay in your own space. If you believe my conclusions to be erroneous, then by all means prove me wrong (using the canon to support your arguments) and make my day. Thank you.

Kishomoto Masashi has made extensive use of patterns and thematic repetition throughout the _Naruto_ narrative. One of the most common is his use of groupings of three or multiples of three. This is exemplified by the genin teams and their jounin instructors.

Something that is familiar to students of the martial arts is the tripartite relationship of body, mind, and heart, or spirit, and all the genin teams reflect this, with each character serving as a particular component:

Body: This component emphasizes physical prowess. The character in this position is usually the front line fighter.

Mind: This component emphasizes mental acuity, whether by academic grades (or "book learning") or native intelligence. This character usually serves in a support role.

Spirit: This component is what holds the team together. The character can serve as either a front line fighter or in a support role.

What follows are the configurations for all the teams whose members' roles can be readily determined, arranged in order of Body-Spirit-Mind:

**Team Kakashi**: Sasuke-Naruto-Sakura

**Team Asuma**: Chouji-Ino-Shikamaru

**Team Kurenai**: Kiba-Hinata-Shino

**Team Gai**: Tenten-Lee-Neji

**Team Suna**: Kankuro-Gaara-Temari

**Team Sandaime**: Tsunade-Jiraiya-Orochimaru

**Team Yondaime**: Obito-Rin-Kakashi

This tripartite pattern is repeated among the jounin instructors, each of whom appears to have a particularly strong relationship with a particular team member. For the purposes of this essay, I will focus on the four currently extant teams of Leaf ninja; not enough information has been revealed in the narrative to make calls on Teams Suna, Sandaime or Yondaime.

**Kakashi/Sakura**: Mind/Mind

**Asuma/Chouji**: Body/Body

**Kurenai/Hinata**: Spirit/Spirit

**Gai/Lee**: Spirit/Spirit

This makes a Body-Spirit-Mind arrangement of Asuma-Kurenai-Kakashi, with Gai ending up as a duplicated Spirit component. However, Team Gai are not part of the Rookie Nine, so Gai himself is not a component of this jounin triad.

The patterns examined above have an interesting effect on that bane of _Naruto_ fans everywhere, _character pairings_.

The canonical pairings that I see in this narrative (all of which are apparent only by implication and involve varying degrees of reciprocity) are:

Naruto/Hinata

Shikamaru/Temari

Chouji/Ino

Asuma/Kurenai

Lee/Tenten

Jiraiya/Tsunade

Note that there are six, which adheres to Kishimoto-sensei's pattern of arranging things in threes and multiples of three.

Now, before the fans of other pairings have an apoplectic fit (you _yaoi_ and _yuri_ and incest folks know who you are...), remember that _Naruto_ is a _shounen_ manga, and as such is _extremely_ unlikely to feature same-sex or incestuous pairings. Therefore, I will not be addressing them at length. Get over it.

The pattern which emerges from the pairings noted above is as follows:

Spirit/Spirit

Mind/Mind

Body/Spirit

Body/Spirit

Spirit/Body

Spirit/Body

If the paired characters are on the same team, it is alink betweenBody and Spirit (incidentally, it is reasonable to conclude, given this pattern, that Asuma and Kurenai were on the same team.); If the paired characters are on _different_ teams, they each link with their corresponding triad component.

"But wait!", you say: that pattern _also_ supports Kiba/Hinata and Naruto/Sasuke! Body/Spirit and Spirit/Body. Indeed, it does. And the narrative shows a particularly strong relationship between the characters in question: Kiba, good war-hound that he is, is very protective of his timid and tiny teammate. As well, Naruto has made returning Sasuke to the village a top priority in his life.

Thus have I thrown a couple of bones to the KibaHina and NaruSasu crowds. Enjoy!

One final and very interesting pattern remains: the pairings that, while popular among some fans, do not appear to be in the cards are all Spirit/Mind pairings: Naruto/Sakura (sorry, folks, but Sakura ultimately poisoned that particular well when she was 13.), Shikamaru/Ino (again, sorry, folks, but Shikamaru _did_ tell Chouji that he preferred his women stacked, and Temari certainly fits that description.), and Neji/Hinata (which is only compounded by the incest issue; Kishimoto-sensei made the characters genetic siblings for a reason.). What these Spirit/Mind pairings _also_ show is a strong bond of friendship, family, or both.

Thus have I poured salt in the wounds of the NaruSaku, ShikaIno and NejiHina crowds.

Ah well, I knew the job was dangerous when I took it.


End file.
